Is Speaking in Tongues Biblical?

Question:
Is it biblical to speak in tongues? Some say speaking in tongues
was just for the Israelites, for a sign to them so they would believe,
and that it does not apply to us now.

Response: Tongues is a particular gift of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.12:10), and was
complemented in the early Church by the gift of "interpreting" tongues
(1Cor.14:27-28). The first instance of the functioning of this gift was
by the believers gathered together at Pentecost following our Lord's
resurrection who all began to "speak in tongues" when the Spirit came
upon them (Acts 2:1-4). This event caught the attention of all the
expatriate Jews gathered in Jerusalem who heard the gospel in their
own language. So it is clear from what happened at this first
post-resurrection Pentecost, and from what Paul has to say on the
subject of tongues in 1st Corinthians chapter 14, that a
"tongue" is always a real, human language (in fact, the word glossa
in Greek, from which we get "glossary", more often than not refers to a
spoken language –
we use "tongue" in that sense in English too of
course).

One thing to establish right
at the outset, therefore, is that anyone who is
"speaking in a tongue" as a result of being gifted by the Holy Spirit to
do so, is, if genuinely doing so, speaking in an actual language,
a language, moreover,
which any native speaker could understand perfectly well. That is to say,
genuine, biblical "speaking in tongues" is not gibberish or nonsensical
or in anyway an unintelligible combination of sounds (for those who
are able to speak and understand the language in question):

Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as
the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being
played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the
trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for
battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words
with your "tongue", how will anyone know what you are saying?
You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are
all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without
meaning.1st Corinthians 14:7-10 NIV

In light of the above, an example of biblical "speaking in tongues"
would be if you or I were to be given by the Spirit the ability to
speak, say, Turkish, although we had never heard the language before nor
studied it in any way. On the other hand, biblical "speaking in tongues"
would notbe for you or I to pour forth a series of
sounds which are not a spoken human language, which have no
"distinction" as Paul says above, just because we are under the influence of a highly charged
emotional state. The gift of tongues is not and never was "chanting" or
anything of the sort. Rather, "tongues" was always a gift of
communication, designed for giving of the gospel directly to those of a
different language group or for the communication of the Word of God to a
local assembly of believers (where there was also someone present with
the gift of interpreting tongues).

So in the present day, it would, theoretically, be a very simple
matter to discover whether or not someone is really "speaking in a
tongue" according to what the Bible says is legitimate. Let me say that
I personally know of no instance where what passes for "tongues" as it
is presently practiced in some groups is actually a case of someone
speaking forth an intelligible stream of words in a real human language
which is understandable to those who do speak that real
language, but one which the speaker-in-tongues does not
understand (i.e., if I were to pray out-loud in another language I have
studied extensively like biblical Hebrew, reciting a Psalm I had
memorized, for example, that might sound like "speaking in
tongues", but it would not be true "tongues").

Please do not misunderstand: we do not doubt the power of God. All
things, indeed, are possible with Him, and, of a truth, in the early
Church the gift of tongues was a common and important gift which was
apparently being liberally distributed by the Holy Spirit –
but it was
not a universal one. Not everyone spoke in tongues, even in the
early Church:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part
of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of
miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help
others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking
in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have
gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all
interpret?1st Corinthians 14:27-30 NIV

So just because God
can do something or has done something
in the past does not mean that He is doing it now, no matter how
much we may want this to be the case. God has spoken directly to certain
men in the past, appointing them prophets and commissioning them to
proclaim His Word and to be instruments for writing it down in inspired
form (for example, Isaiah: Is.6; and Ezekiel: Ezek.2). That does not
mean that He has done so in my case or in your case (the Bible, after
all, is now complete –
no more chapters are being added, and no one else is
being commissioned by God to write more of it). It is the same for
tongues. Certain gifts were extremely important in the early Church,
when there was as yet no collected New Testament, no stabilized Church
organization, no system of education for the preparation of teachers. In
the first century, the gifts of apostleship, healing, miracles, tongues,
interpretation, etc. were of great importance in establishing the
incipient Church of Jesus Christ. But it is easy to understand why they
are not (apparently) functioning today: we have the Bible and men to
teach it, a situation which is in truth most blessed and not to be
exchanged for any number of miraculous gifts:

Love never falls [into inactivity]. But whether [we are
talking about gifts of] prophecy, they will cease, or
about [gifts of] tongues, they will come to a stop, or
[about the gift of] knowledge, it will be done away with. For
when we exercise the gift of knowledge, its results are only
partial. And when we exercise the gift of prophecy, its results
are only partial. But when what is complete shall have come on
the scene (i.e., the fully functioning Church with a complete
Bible), all partial measures shall be done away with.
1st Corinthians
13:8-10

Most of the peoples of the world now have the gospel, the entire
Bible, in fact, written and available in their own language; most
churches have available to them the teaching of prepared men (even if
this option is largely going unexercised in today's Church). In the last
days before the return of our Lord, many miraculous events have been
prophesied to occur (Joel 2:28-32; please see the link,
"Coming Tribulation", for
more information on the end times). The fact that the gift of tongues is
currently in hiatus does not mean that this will ever be the case. But
we seek God's truth, not men's claims, men's desires. The circumstances
which made "tongues" of such critical importance in the first century no
longer apply today (just as there were no more apostles appointed by the
Lord after
the original twelve had completed their work). Therefore it does not
seem unreasonable to say that the burden of proof lies with those who
suggest that they or others are now truly "speaking in tongues"
–
an
easy enough thing to prove, if true, given that they would then be
speaking a known and verifiable human language of which they have no
prior or independent knowledge.

I have written quite a lot about this subject, and I invite you to have
a look at the following links where more details on this and the closely
related issue of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are addressed: